Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright Tackle Sci-Fi — And Comedy — With ‘The World’s End’

One of the most eagerly awaited films of next year for movie geeks everywhere has to be 'The
World's End,' from the British team of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. Now Wright and Pegg are starting to talk about the project some more in intriguing terms.

Director Wright and actor/screenwriter Pegg -- along with their frequent collaborator, actor/writer Nick Frost -- first came onto the radar of film fans with their now-classic zombie horror spoof, 'Shaun of the Dead' (Wright and Pegg had some success before that with their British TV series 'Spaced,' although it was virtually unknown in the States). Next was 'Hot Fuzz,' a loving tribute to buddy cop and action flicks which was greeted with similar acclaim.

Since then, Wright went on to direct one spectacular bomb in 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' and has been working on a script for Marvel's 'Ant-Man,' while Pegg hit the jackpot playing Scotty in JJ Abrams' 'Star Trek' reboot. He and Frost also teamed up for the sci-fi comedy 'Paul,' which was also a bust.

Through it all, the boys have always spoken about completing their 'Blood and Ice Cream' trilogy and are now apparently set to do so with 'The World's End.' The plot synopsis goes something like this:

20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hell bent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by mate Gary King, a 40-year old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their home town and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub, The World’s End. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realize the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind’s. Reaching The World’s End is the least of their worries.

That outline leaves some plot elements somewhat vague, doesn't it? In a new interview with Empire, Wright was asked what genre 'The World's End' falls under, to which he replied, "Hard to say...It’s a sci-fi comedy. Social science-fiction. Look it up on Wikipedia and then bone up on John Christopher and John Wyndham."

Slashfilm reckons that Wright is hinting about an apocalyptic alien invasion of some sort in the movie, something that Christopher ('The Tripods') and Wyndham ('The Day of the Triffids') both specialized in, with the "social science fiction" tag referring to sci-fi that studies human behavior.

The director also added, "This is as much about where you grew up as the people you grew up with...It’s also very silly. I would say it’s darker, more personal and more silly."

"More silly" than 'Shaun' or 'Hot Fuzz'? That would be some sort of achievement for sure. But "darker" and "more personal" as well? That means we could be in for something utterly unique from these guys.

Shooting for 'The World's End' begins this fall with a 2013 release as the goal. Are you excited to see what these British madmen have dreamed up this time?